Maui County reports Hawaiian Electric has restored power to all of Maui as of 2 p.m. Tuesday.
According to HECO, a high-voltage short circuit occurred at a power substation in Maalaea, which triggered power generating units to trip offline.
“This is a highly unusual event — the last outage to affect a large number of Maui residents occurred after a lightning storm in 2017 — and the company is looking into the cause of the short circuit,” stated HECO in a county news release. “Mahalo to our customers and communities for their patience as crews worked as quickly as possible to restore power.”
The Department of Public Works’ Highways Division reported that the outage affected 35 Maui County traffic signals, though most returned to service quickly. About a half dozen required service to get them back to full function.
The signal at the intersection of Lono and Wakea avenues in Kahului is currently in flashing mode and will remain that way until it can be repaired on Wednesday. Motorists are asked to treat the intersection as a four-way stop.
Maui County announced as of noon, phone and internet services have been restored to offices at the Maui County Service Center, except for the Transient Accommodations Tax Office, per the Department of Finance.
All transactions at the Division of Motor Vehicle & Licensing are being accepted, and credit and debit card transactions for the Real Property Tax Division are being processed.
As of 11:22 a.m. Tuesday, Hawaiian Electric reports power was restored to most Maui customers at about 10:15 a.m. Currently, crews are working to restore power to approximately 100 remaining customers in Central Maui and pockets of the Upcounty and Haiku areas.
The cause is under investigation. Hawaiian Electric encourages those still experiencing an outage to reset your home breaker or contact them at the Maui County Trouble Line, 808-871-7777.
An updated news release as of 10:11 a.m. Tuesday reports the power outage has affected about 65,000 customers throughout Maui and restoration work is ongoing to the remaining 15,000 customers in parts of Upcountry, East Maui, including Paia and Haiku, and pockets of Central and West Maui. The following county services are being affected:
- Maui County Service Center - Phone and internet services are down; only cash and check payments for property tax and utilities are being accepted with receipts provided manually.
- Division of Motor Vehicles and Licensing - Customers are asked to reschedule appointments or wait until services are restored.
- Lahaina Satellite Office - Closed for the day due to power-related problems and staff shortage.
- Pukalani Satellite Office - Office is closed until power is restored; staff remains on standby.
As Hawaiian Electric Co. works to restore power to parts of the island, the Maui County Department of Water Supply is asking the public to reduce water usage during this time since DWS systems rely on electrical pumps for well pumps, water treatment and distribution.
Maui Island experienced a power outage at approximately 3 a.m. Tuesday, causing the closure of 14 schools and affecting many customers and businesses.
As of 8:23 a.m., a county news release stated Hawaiian Electric Co. has reported restored power to customers in parts of Lahaina and a majority of Central Maui and South Maui areas.
In the meantime, HECO crews are working to restore power to the remaining areas of West Maui, Upcountry, East Maui, including Paia and Haiku, and remaining pockets.
“We appreciate your continued patience and understanding as crews safely work as quickly as possible to bring everyone back online. The number of affected customers and cause of the outage is still being assessed,” stated HECO in the release.
The number of closed schools remains the same as reported earlier in the morning.
Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original story has been updated to note that power has been restored to all of Maui and that HECO is looking into what caused the short-circuit. (Aug. 23, 2022)
